Shoe



June 6, 1944. c.- H. DANIELS SHOE Original Filed Aug. 24, 1954 INVENTOR.

s a N m H. E w m HIS ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 6, 1944 Original application August 24, 1934, Serial No. 741,197. Divided and this application Gctober 27, 1937, Serial No. 171,180

3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to shoes, and particularly to the novel construction of the counter-region This application is a division of my prior copending application, Serial No. 741,197, filed August 24, 1934, now Patent Number 2,097,451.

In accordance with the usual practice of shoe making the counter, which is a stiffener inserted in the region of the heel to hold up the upper at erally stated, the usual stiffener, or counter, which is employed in the region of the heel of a shoe, is unified with another upper part before the upper is in condition to be lasted. This may be conveniently accomplished by providing a fiat piece of material, such as fiber board, sole leather, or even woven fabric which may be suitably secured, as by adhesive, to the quarter section of a shoe. This may be conveniently accomplished that point, is inserted between the layers of with the materials in a fiat condition, since in upper material at the time the shoe is lasted. In this condition pressing of the respective layers other words, the upper is completed and is furtogether so as to cause the respective layers to nished to the iaster, and in accordance with conform to each other and impart some stifiness the usual practice the laster loosely inserts the thereto is facilitated. counter between the folds of upper material. In the event it is desired to perforate the Ordinarily a counter which is generally formed counter, such perforation may be conveniently of fiber board, or sole leather, is molded prior to accomplished with the unified materials in this insertion between the folds of upper material so fiat condition and the various layers may be that it conforms generally to the shape of the simultaneously. perforated. Of course, it will last and is inserted in this condition between be understood in special circumstances the counthe folds. The presence of a counter of this ter-stifiener, or other upper parts, may be inshape renders it difilcult to perforate the various divldually preperforated, and thereafter aslayers of upper material so as to provide a vensembled and unified with the perforations theretilated counter and, furthermore, the respective of in at least partial 'alinement with the perfolayers of upper materials are seldom conformed rations in the other members. Although in such to, the shape of the counter so as to present as case many of the advantages of the present inneat an appearance as if the layers had been vention are retained, it is evident that in the pressed together. usual case it is more economical to unite 'the It is an object of the present invention, genrespective parts and perforate through all of the erally stated, to provide a shoe having a builtassembled parts simultaneously. in counter. In order to conveniently accomplish the build- Another object of the present invention is to ing-in of the counter with the upper materials in provide a shoe having a perforated quarter area the flat, it will be understood that the counter wherein the perforations extend through the stiiiener with its adjunct quarter section and lincounter stifiener. ing, if any, may be united before the upper is Other objects will become apparent to those closed as by vamping or back seaming. Howskilled in the art when the following description ever, even with a closed upperwhich is nonis read in connection with the accompanying planiform or funnel shaped, it is possible to indrawing in which terpose and unite a counter stiffener in the fiat Figure 1 is a plan view of a double quarter asby stretching the closed upper transversely of sembly, part being broken away to expose the its opening and thereby flattening the counter arrangement of the counter in accordance with area. y the present invention. Referring now to' the drawing, there is illus- Figure 2 is a perspective view of a shoe emtrated in Figure 1 a section of upper material bodying the quarter assembly shown in Figure 1. constituting both quarters of the together Figure 3 is a plan view of a one piece upper in one piece so'as to form a seamless back shoe (including vamp and quarter sections) illustratin a. manner familiar to those skilled in the art. ing the application of the present invention in The assembly illustrated in Figure 1 may comaccordance with another embodiment. prise a quarter l, a lining 2, a counter} and a 1 Figure lis a perspective View of a closed upper doubler, if desired. The respective layers may formed of the assembly shown in Figure 3 and be assembled together in the condition shown Figure 5 is a plan view of a counter stiifener with the counter centrally situated so as to be element employed in the embodiment of Figures properly positioned when the upper is lasted. 3 nd Each of these parts may be given a coating of In accordance with the present invention, gen adhesive prior to assembly, a suitable adhesive being vulcanized latex, or nitrocellulose cement. After the parts are assembled together, they may be subjected to pressure so as to flatten the same, and securely adhere them together. If desired, at this time a series of perforations, such as 4, may be conveniently formed passing simultaneously through the three layers so as to produce a shoe which is ventilated at the back.

It'will be understood that the lining may form one wall of a counter pocket, or may be dispensed with entirely. In the latter case the counter will be fastened to the outside section directly as by adhesive or stitching.

In assembling the counter with the other parts, the counter may be located so that the upper edge thereof is slightly, say $41. below the edge of the quarter. When in this position the counter will not interferewith subsequent application of finish strips or binding. The counter may also be located so that the lower edge thereof is above the lower edge of the quarter, as shown in Figure 1. In this manner, although the counter extends far enough to be lasted over, there is no excessmaterial and azcompact heel seat results. v

As remarked above, the counter as employed in the present invention may materials, such as fiber board or sole leather or it may be made of fabric which has been suitably treated to stiffen it. For instance, a double nap fabric, of good body but depending in weight u on the amount of stiffness desired, may be stiffened as by impregnation with a suitable stiflener such as a starch solution, glue, casein or the like, care being taken to select a stiffener which is compatible with and will permit latex to adhere to theimpregnated fabric. The fabric may thus be stiffened to any extent so long as it does not crack when folded flat. when the interstices of the fabric have absorbed sumcient of the stiffener to give the desired stiffness when dry, it is permitted to dry and thereafter a surfacing agent, such as latex, is applied. The latex may be applied by dipping, spraying or brushing and provides a surface to which adhesive will stick. Moreover, the latex and stiffener may be mixed together and concurrently applied. Various textile fabrics may. be used, for instance.- duck of suitable weight, treated similarly.

The united quarter section I with its lining 2 and built-in counter 3 may then be connected with a vamp, the upper being thereby closed. The upper may then be finished in accordance with the usual practice. Thereafter the upper may be assembled with a sole and lasted in the usual manner, but before lasting any of the conforming operations described in said Patent No. 2,097,451 may, if desired. be performed.

After the upper has been lasted the other usual manufacturing operations carried out in the process of making shoes are performed. A shoe be made of the usual.

and mesh fabric, and.

made'in accordance with the present inyention and embodying the counter assembly shown in Figure 1 is illustrated in Figure 2.

In carrying out the invention with separate quarter sections which is the more common practice, the. ordinary counter may be cut in two so as to'provide half counters H, as illustrated in Figure 5. One such half counter H .may be, applied to the respective quarters of a shoe, as illustrated in Figure 3 at I I and I2. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, a

I0 is shown, for the purpose of illustration,

one-piece upper I aagsasra wherein both quarters and the vamp are cut from a single piece of leather. It will be understood, however, that the vamp and quarters may be formed separately, if desired, and that the invention as shown and described in connection with a one-piece upper is only for the purpose of illustration.

As shown in Figure counter II is curved corresponding to the general curvature of the usual quarter pattern which is such that when two corresponding sections are fastened together the assembl will assume a cupped or vertically curved shape.

One such counter as H may be applied to each quarter of a shoe so that when the quarters are attached together the counters will likewise be fastened together.

The counter H which, itwill-be understood, may conveniently be in a flat condition and may be formed of any suitable material, as stated above, may be secured to one quarter of the shoe and a companion counter I! may be secured to the opposite quarter. It will be understood that the counters may be interposed between an exterior quarter and the lining 20 therefor, or may be used without alining, if desired, or with a member large enough to cover it, known as a counter-pocket. Moreover, the counter or stiffener may be applied on the exteriorof the quarter in the form of a, foxing, or may be covered by a foxing. In accordance with the present invention, however, the counter or stiffener. regardless of the manner in which it is assembled with the other layers, is secured thereto and preferably pressed flat before the upper (in the case of separate quarters) is closed. The upper may then be closed in accordance with the usual practice of closing uppers without the built-in counter, as for instance, in the manner fully described in said Patent No. 2,097,451. After this is accomplished the line of back seam may be covered by the usual backstay l5 which may be applied both inside and out. The upper assembly is then in condition for being assembled with a sole and lasted in the usual manner.

When the quarter, counter and lining are, in accordance with the present invention, unified in the flat, the resultant shoes have an extremely neat appearance in the heel region. Since in accordance with the present invention, the quarter and lining are secured together, as by adhesive, and p essed flat, it is really unnecessary to provide the amount of stiffness which is provided by the ordinary counter which is made of fibre board or sole leather. Indeed, if there is a doubler present. sufficient stiffness may be imparted to the assembly without requiring the use of a counter. and even when a doubler is not present, a piece of woven fabric, such for instance as heavy drill, provides ufilcient stiffness for the counter portion of the shoe when constructed in accordance with the present invention. Moreover, a suitable thermoplastic resin capable of being reduced to.

, the counter is built-in and secured to the upper material during the upper-forming operation before the shoe islasted. This results in a shoe which is not only of neat appearance but is more comfortable to the foot and conforms more perfectly to the last than one in which a pre-molded counter is provided. Moreover, the procedure of 5 the rear edge l3 of the assume manufacture is such as to permit ventilating.

openings to be simultaneously perforated through the various layers in the region of the counter While they are fiat. It is to be understood, however, that the respective layers need not be se cured together by adhesive, but may be secured together in any other manner, such for instance as by stitching. Moreover, the term counteras used herein and in the appended claims is to.

be understood as descriptive and not in the limitative sense, since it is intended to apply to var ious materials and in fact to a layer of any suitable material whether applied Without or Within the fact that the radius of curvature for the outside lamina is greater than the radius of curvature for the inside lamina; and since the materials are unified together, they must be bent about. the same center. Generally, both condensation in the lining, and expansion in the exterior quarter, will take place to agreater or less extent, depending upon the characteristics of the materials. However, due to the substantially general'adhesion between the three layers, the

condensation and expansion will be general over the curved area, and not localized where it might exhibit itself as puckers or wrinkles in the lining, or as strains in the exterior quarter. This is a characteristic incident to flatwise uniflcation of the quarter, counter, and lining'; which will enable those skilled in the art to identify shoes in which the sections have been unified fiatwise; and hence the expression, "said quarter and lining being relatively expanded and condensed about the curved rear portion of the shoe, as used in the appended claims, is to be construed as defining the unique characteristic of shoes in which the quarter, counter, and um ing sections have been unified in the flat, before being conformed to the heel end of a last.

Where an exterior leather quarter section and a stiflening element of the counter type are adhesively secured together flatwise throughout substantially their entire engaging surfaces and the flatwise unified composite structure is shaped to form the rear portionof the shoe, ing surfaces ot-the leather quarter of the stiffening element, being near axis and hence substantially free of the engagsection and the neutral compression while the exterior surface of the quarter section is. under tension. This results in an improved structure, as heretofore pointed out. The resultant structure is, however, distinctive due to the method of formation.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that many modifications of the shoe and procedure hereinbefore described will present themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is to be distinctly understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to the specific details of structure and procedure described, but that such modifications and the use or such individual features and sub-combinations of features as do not depart from the spirit of this invention are, although not specifically described herein, contem= plated by and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. As a step process article of manufacture an unclosed shoe upper, comprising a flat leather quarter, a fiat lining and a fiat counter, said counter being adhesively unified with said quarter and lining throughout substantially their entire areas, said composite assembly being flat.

2. As a step product inthe manufacture of a shoe, a flat quarter adapted to be conformed to the general shape of the heel end of the last prior to lasting, comprising three layers of material including an exterior quarter section of leather, a stiffening element of the counter type, and an interior lining layer, said three layers being adhesively united throughout substantially the entire areas of their engaging surfaces, the

layer which forms the stiffening element being of one piece and having an uninterrupted sur face throughout the portion of its area which will form the back of the heel in the completed shoe.

3. As a step product in the manufacture of a seamless back shoe, a flat quarter adapted to be conformed to the general shape of the heel end of the last prior to lasting, comprising a onepiece double exterior quarter section-oi leather,

7 a one-piece stifiening element 01' the counter type, a one piece interior lining co-extensive with said double quarter section, said quarter section, stiffening element and lining being adhesively united throughout substantially the entire areas of their engaging surfaces, said quarter section and lining having substantially uninterrupted marginal portions and uninterrupted surfaces between said marginal portions, and said stifiening element having an uninterrupted surface throughout the portion 01' its area which will heel in the completed shoe.

form the back of the CLAUDE H. DANIELS.. 

